


Hypotheticals

by ForbiddenToast



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Post-The Year that Never Was (Doctor Who), Relationship Study, Season/Series 02, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForbiddenToast/pseuds/ForbiddenToast
Summary: Sometimes they talk in hypotheticals. Sometimes it's easier that way.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 11
Kudos: 29





	Hypotheticals

Sometimes they talk in hypotheticals.

Sometimes it’s easier that way.

A statement can carry a lot of weight in their lives – history, fixed points and possible futures are constantly in flux with each other, constantly colliding between each moment and the next. In the middle of all of that a statement has the potential to change the course of history without them even knowing. If they’re not careful.

Or that’s what Jack says anyway. Ianto only believes him eighty percent of the time but plays along regardless.

(Jack loves him for that.)

Hypotheticals are the grey areas. Not fixed, not history, doubtfully the future and most importantly, not solid enough for Jack to justify dodging in fear of changing something – it’s all just mere curiosity and half answers.

A hypothetical can wrap the truth in the _idea_ of fiction, smother it in the safety net of a _‘what-if?’_. Statements and confessions can be hidden in the gaps they cause, because there’s a possibility that whatever they say will never happen and will never be true.

The greyness of the _‘what-if?’_ is one of the few places Jack can trust himself with Ianto completely. Hypotheticals are one of the few places he can speak freely, without bending the truth to protect those around him or to protect fixed point The Doctor warned him is in his future. It’s all hypothetical in a question. Nothing binding. Not a yes, not a no, not a statement and most importantly – not solid enough to hurt anyone.

Because you don’t live as long as Jack Harkness without learning the grey areas and the in-betweens of time travel or the Universe and Her rules. You _certainly_ don’t live like Jack Harkness or work for Torchwood without an appreciation for vagueness and reading between the lines. Even if you have to draw most of the lines yourself. 

The grey area of a hypothetical is an opportunity. Close enough to the truth but far enough away from lies to allow them to talk about things they usually couldn’t, lets them feel _real_. It’s the perfect loophole to the Universe and all of Her rules, regulations and boring terms and conditions.

And since when could Jack ever resist a loophole?

However, like any good ex-conman would tell you, the trick to a loophole is to not overuse it. That would draw attention to it, which is a rookie mistake. Drawing attention to the con would be testing luck itself, which _never_ works because to Jack luck is just the Universe playing catch-up. And She _will_ catch up in the end and _will_ take whatever She wants. The loopholes are just buying him time, allowing him moments so he has to treat them like any other con: carefully.

It’s best not to waste hypotheticals on civilians. Jack doubts they would even notice them if the situation presented itself. They’re usually too wrapped up in the terror of actual aliens in Cardiff to read between lines.

No - civilians get false promises at best, lies at worst. He inspires a false sense of safety with the _“we’ll get out of this alive if you just listen to me!”_ promise he usually makes.

They might make it out alive, and hopes they do, but it’s not the truth. He can’t guarantee they’ll make it out alive just because he says so. But hopeful people run faster and listen to him and don't make useless self-sacrifices for Jack. And civilians _definitely_ won’t make it out alive with their memories intact, but they don't know that until it's too late. They believe him though, because of his tone and general air about him. He’s the authority figure that comes rushing in with his team when they realise how big their little universe actually is.

The team is not as easy – and he would never expect or want them to be.

Hypotheticals are part of the job with them, creating theories about what The Rift has spat out at them, but Jack doesn’t use loopholes with them to explain things. When it comes to the truth they usually get walls and safe truths and rarely the whole, unfiltered truth.

Jack sometimes feels like a redacted file around them – scored out and blank voids fill in his life. Whereas he knows so much of their lives, their history.

It doesn’t seem fair - and it isn’t - but it’s the hand the Universe and Her luck has dealt him.

The team gets the _“I can’t tell you that.”_ statement because that statement is safer than the alternative. They get anecdotes that are _just_ too unbelievable to be taken seriously and tense workdays where they all know he’s holding something back.

But unlike civilians with their blind faith, Jack gets _trust_ in return with his team. However misguided he sometimes thinks it is, especially after a close call. They trust he’ll tell them what they need to know and challenge him when they know he’s being too tight-lipped.

(Jack loves them for that.)

However, Ianto – in the messy way he’s entangled himself in Jack’s life – gets the hypotheticals.

It was a system they worked out pretty early on. It’s safer than the alternatives because there are words Jack will never – _can’t_ ever say because they would be too painful. Just like he knows there are things Ianto will never fully talk either. 

But the hypotheticals allow them to work around it, to tell half-truths. Find loopholes.

Ianto picked up on them the morning after John Hart, when the team debriefed Jack on what he missed.

Ianto read between the lines Jack crafted when he demanded to know why the Prime Minister had a direct line to Torchwood.

In hindsight Jack knows he wasn’t himself, probably sloppier than usual but the relief of seeing the four of them around him – _alive_ and _well_ and _so_ fucking _stupid_ had pushed him to speculate on history-that-never-was.

“What if it had been a trap?” He had asked, pacing the recently relocated conference room. Just another thing he had missed when he ran off. “You had no idea what you were walking into! It was out of jurisdiction! They – they could have taken The Hub – compromised _you_!”

He had cooled down after that. Retreated to his office to see what else he missed and reminded himself that in this timeline it was just a false alarm. A hoax. The team had gone to the Himalayas, found nothing and _came back_.

Ianto had stayed silent during the briefing. He had sat quietly in the corner, with a perfectly schooled expression and watched Gwen, Tosh and Owen lay into Jack and ask all the questions he _couldn’t_ answer.

Ianto had known Jack couldn’t answer questions about where he’d been. He had no doubt seen the CCTV footage of the TARDIS on the Plass and knew what that meant – he had worked under Yvonne Hartman after all.

Ianto had stayed quiet until afterwards, when he asked question of his own.

“What if something had happened and you came back to an empty Hub, Sir?” 

And the look he gave Jack had let him know Ianto had figured something out.

It was a low blow; hidden in residual anger they were all feeling about his absence. But really, it had been the Welshman testing the waters to see if Jack had told them something beyond pure speculation. And, as usual, Ianto had been _right_ but it didn’t matter – Jack had needed to fix the breach. He needed to keep them all safe so he would never return to a quiet Hub again. Regardless of what the rules about abandoned timelines were.

Whatever reaction Ianto had been looking for, he must have found it in Jack’s reaction because he quickly apologised.

“Only apologise for things that happened, Ianto.” Jack replied. Ianto was always quick, even when he was brought onboard the Valiant before…well. Before The Master was quicker. “It makes life easier.”

They didn’t talk about it, not really. But Torchwood’s liaison number was changed a day later. Protocols around dealing with politicians got rewrites within the week. Ianto said it was because he was sick of dealing with Westminster twats who never strayed out of London beyond Eton.

They didn’t _talk_ about that. Jack couldn’t and Ianto didn’t need to know, he’d figured out enough.

_***_

They fell into the habit after that.

Sometimes it’s fun. With the adrenaline of a mission behind them and he gets to ask Ianto what he would do _if_ he could convince the others to leave within five minutes. Speculate what the Welshman would do if he took his shirt off, gets to breathe the dangerous, exciting _possibility_ of the others coming back and catching them into Ianto’s neck nine minutes later when hands begin to fumble for belt buckles.

_What would Ianto do if someone came back now? If Tosh had forgotten her keys, if Owen’s phone was still in his lab coat. Would Ianto manage to keep quiet if that were to happen?_

_Would he want to?_

The possibilities are endless.

_***_

Sometimes the hypotheticals are no fun at all because there’s so many of them. Even the ones they actively avoid echo around the walls of The Hub, bouncing back onto them.

There’s a _‘what-if?’_ hiding in the storage room where Lisa was kept, there’s a silent question on the table by the door that Ianto dusts every afternoon during his rounds – on the empty space where The Doctor’s hand used to reside.

Hell – Ianto’s entire existence in Jack’s life is one big hypothetical. One he does not like to contemplate, and simply wants to enjoy it while he can.

There’s the _what if I hadn’t given him the job?_ that haunts him in the middle of the night, when Ianto has a nightmare. There’s the _what if I retconned him after Torchwood One? Let him live a normal life?_ And the what-ifs of _fuck,_ _what if I shot him after Lisa or told him to go home after Suzie or-_

Jack should take his own advice. It’s no good to dwell on the things that didn’t happen. Even if he does sometimes thing Ianto deserved a better timeline than the one he got.

_***_

Sometimes the speculation breaks Jack’s heart.

Because just like him, Ianto gets to share experiences he’ll never fully talk about in the grey areas. He treats them like loopholes too – Jack sees it. He uses them as places to hide his hurt and experiences without the consequences of _sharing_.

But unlike Jack who is ironically upfront about his secrecy, Ianto isn’t. He hides behind humour and pseudo-confidence even when he is just as scared of the Universe taking more as Jack is. And often he only shares with the hope people will miss it, so the fear isn’t grounded. So the fear of luck running out doesn’t feel real.

Jack doesn’t miss the time with Owen though, two weeks after he gets back. They were discussing rewrites to plans around the Hub being breached after an incident with ‘The Slime’ (as Owen had christened it) – a thankfully peaceful lifeform that just wanted to go home.

“We could always hide in the archives if anything else ever gets in.” Ianto had joked. “If any aliens are interested in filing, I doubt they’d be the Torchwood destroying type.”

Jack didn’t see it straight away. Not until he noticed that Ianto spent the rest of the day avoiding the lower levels and refused to use the main stairwells wherever possible.

When it finally hit him, he sent Ianto home but not without a tight hug that let Ianto know he _knew_ what was in-between those lines. Jack had read the reports, he had salvaged the remains and he had walked through the stairwells of Torchwood One _after_.

Ianto didn’t deserve to work after mentioning that. Jack made sure he didn’t.

He likes to think he’s better at it now, he hopes he doesn’t miss as much of the things Ianto tells them.

_***_

Sometimes the questions create themselves. Sometimes Jack thinks it’s the Universe’s way of making sure they don’t get too cocky, too settled. That they don’t forget that She’s right around the corner.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” Jack asked one afternoon as Ianto did his round. He plucked the question from thin air but the more he thought about it the more he had wanted an answer.

Because what _did_ Ianto Jones want to be before the Universe dealt him the hand of a general officer for a secret alien and time rift agency that masquerades as a Visit Wales tourist office?

Ianto had shrugged. In that dismissive way he does sometimes when he’s too wrapped up in work. Or rather, the lack of work.

Jack risked a glance at the stack of paperwork beside him that he had hardly put a dent in. Maybe the question wasn’t as spontaneous as he thought.

“I said what everybody does.” Ianto replied and smiled at Jack’s expression – he was humouring him. Good. Jack could work with that. “Or what everyone from around here says anyway.”

Move to London, get some Important Job with a five-year plan and a decent pension. Maybe meet someone, have a kid. Only visit Wales at Christmas if he really has to.

The hypotheticals of what could have been _scream_ at them. 

Jack picked up his pen to go back to the work he should have been doing. 

He doesn’t like to think about the _what-ifs_ wrapped around that.

And based on the way Ianto rushed to collect the few scraps of paper Jack had actually signed to go file, neither did he.

_***_

Occasionally though, Jack treasures the moments hypotheticals allow them.

They’re still fragile, he knows this. Leaving had hurt Ianto more than he will admit and Jack can only wish it hadn’t taken a year, _that_ year for him to figure out what Ianto Jones means to him. This time around it’s good – it’s really good. It’s more real than before.

They go on dates and spend time together beyond just fucking. They _talk_ and Jack opens up more than he probably should – he shares things he’s probably not allowed to, knowing that it’s going to crash down on him one day. But for now, it’s worth it.

Regardless though, he still won’t ask Ianto to stay – even after the Welshman had explicitly asked him if he was leaving again and Jack, for once, had answered _honestly_. Because he _did_ come back for Ianto.

But how can he ever ask the same of Ianto?

If Ianto wants a normal life, with the important job and to get the fuck out of Wales once and for all Jack would have to let him. It wouldn’t be fair to do that to him, after everything. 

Jack just hopes the Universe is merciful for once. After everything, maybe they deserve it.

He can’t stop thinking about their conversation about what Ianto wanted to be when he grew up because there are so many _what-ifs_ that surround them on a daily basis, some of which they’ve made peace with but there will _always_ be the lingering question. The _what-if_ Ianto changes his mind? The _what-if_ Ianto wants a normal life with a normal person, with normal interactions with a dry cleaner about liquid that wasn’t caused by ‘The Slime’ (it was a symbol of thanks in its culture. Ianto had joked about the residue creating a culture of bacteria on his tie).

They’ve opened up more, especially after the night before Tommy Brockless was sent back to his own time.

There had been a hypothetical question then – with Ianto asking if he would return home, if he could.

The answer though, had been anything but. Going home wouldn’t fix anything – his home wasn’t home anymore. It hadn’t been for _centuries_. He had waited for The Doctor, had hoped that he would fix him and let him find something resembling that but, as always, the Universe and Her fixed points had to have the last laugh.

Going _home_ would fix nothing. It would have robbed him of seeing the Universe because as much as he despises the rules, the game is _fantastic_. It’s allowed him to love people he never would have met otherwise.

The way Ianto had held him and kissed him was enough to sooth the ache of the _what-ifs_. It reminded him that it was all worth it. The moments in-between the loneliness make it worth it, even as the speculation of what's to come eats away at him. 

_People like Ianto Jones make it worth it._

_***_

Somehow it must be worth it for Ianto too.

He begins to open up more, they both _have_. But Ianto talks more about himself now, rather than deflecting when Jack asks about his life beyond Torchwood. It means more now. It’s taking a bet with the Universe and hoping She doesn’t catch up with them.

And sometimes, not often, but sometimes the Universe lets Jack win.

They’re in the safety of Ianto’s flat the first time Jack realises that he’s sometimes allowed small victories. He has the Welshman curled up around him in bed, with his head on Jack’s chest. Happy and worn out and tired but _safe_.

He tells Jack more about his plans when he was younger. Grand plans of wanting to be a rugby player until he realised he wasn’t the ‘right sort of bloke’ and wanting to travel and all of the small-town dreams Jack had once had before he signed up to the Time Agency.

He tells Jack about Connor, the Irish boy from primary school, and how he daydreamed about running away with him. Away from home. Away from real life.

Jack’s chest aches at the implications in-between the lines but unlike in The Hub, Ianto doesn’t seem shaken by it. If anything, he’s amused at how whimsical he was.

(Later Jack will like to think that this is the Universe’s way for apologising for the last time Ianto talked about his childhood dreams. It’s a nice thought.)

“He was pretty, I think. He must’ve been.” Ianto says and then shifts to look up at him. It’s an odd angle, looking at him from under his chin but he’s smiling, and Jack can’t look away. “Or maybe I have a thing for accents.”

Jack laughs at that.

“Would you change it, if you could?” He asks. It slips out into the Universe before he can think twice about it. “Have Connor and Ireland and…whatever it is the Irish do?”

Ianto contemplates it for a second before shaking his head.

“I don’t think so.” He says. “I kind of like it here.”

Jack takes it as the statement – as the _confession_ it is.

He doesn’t need to risk saying anything else.

He shifts so he can kiss Ianto properly.

The Universe has given him this win and despite all the unspoken hypothetical scenarios awaiting them, Jack knows it’s sometimes best not to question it.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched To The Last Man recently during my Torchwood rewatch and couldn't get their conversation about Jack going back to his own time out of my head - hence this completely self-indulgent thing that wouldn't leave me alone. It was my first time writing for these two so apologies for any mistakes, but I hope you enjoyed my spiral back into Torchwood madness!


End file.
